Millions of voters across London went to the polls on July 4 to elect the new Government. The Standard looked at key battleground seats in the capital, and published an interactive map of the results. Here we turn the spotlight on:
WINNER: PAUL KOHLER
The Liberal Democrats won Wimbledon in a close contest.
Paul Kohler was elected MP following a three-way marginal battle.
Mr Kohler became a well-known figure after he was the victim of a brutal robbery several years ago.
Top five candidates (in alphabetical order):
Rachel Brooks - Green Party (2,442 votes)
Ben Cronin - Reform UK (3,221 votes)
Danielle Dunfield-Prayero - Conservatives (12,180 votes)
Paul Kohler - Liberal Democrats (24,790 votes)
Eleanor Stringer - Labour (11,733 votes)
Summary: Centrist Conservative MP Stephen Hammond, a former transport minister, won this seat in 2019 with a majority of just 628.
He is standing down and sitting MPs are estimated to have a personal vote of around 1,000 or over so immediately it looks like a struggle for the Tories to hold onto the seat.
It is a three-way marginal but the Lib Dems appear in a better position to oust the Conservatives, having come second five years ago, more than 7,000 votes ahead of Labour.
The seat has elected Conservative MPs since 1885, apart from five years after the Second World War, and from 1997–2005 during the Tony Blair landslide years. Rishi Sunak and Sir Ed Davey have already visited the constituency, in a sign that both the Conservatives and Lib-Dems believe they can win here.
As the Wimbledon tennis tournament opened, Lib Dems were growing increasingly hopeful of pulling off a win here.
Area: Merton wards of Abby, Hillside, Merton Park, Raynes Park, Village, Wandle, West Barnes, Wimbledon Park and Wimbledon Town & Dundonald, as well as Kingston wards of Old Malden and St. James.
I’m not sure if I’m in this constituency: Here’s how you can check
Boundary changes impact (Thrasher and Rallings analysis): Boundary changes have made this less of a Labour seat. At the 2019 General Election, the result was 38.4 per cent Conservative, 37.2 per cent Lib-Dem, 23.7 per cent Labour. The changes would have made it 39.8 per cent Tory, 38.3 per cent Liberal Democrat, and 20.8 per cent Labour.
